Dover proved it could play with the best

DOVER — Nothing erases the sting of a disappointing season like a win in a Thanksgiving Day Turkey Bowl game. Just ask the Dover High School football team.

Last year, the Green Wave avenged a close loss in the Division II championship game with a resounding 41-21 Thanksgiving Day win over Portsmouth, which had won Division III championship just days earlier. Dover finds itself in a similar situation this year. After a 3-7 season which saw the Green Wave come tantalizingly close to wins against three teams that made the playoffs, Dover gets another chance to knock off the D-III champs on Turkey Day.

“There's still a sour taste in our mouth after some of those close losses,” said Dover senior running back Colin Shaughnessy. “But we stayed together as a team the whole season, through all the ups and downs, all the close games that turned out to be losses.”

The Green Wave and Clippers will meet today at 10 a.m. at Tom Daubney Field. Portsmouth (9-2) is coming off a 54-27 win over Goffstown for its second straight D-III championship.

Dover was more competitive than its record indicated. The Green Wave missed the playoffs, but proved they could play with the best teams in the division. Dover rallied from two touchdowns down to lose by a point at Keene, lost to eventual champion Winnacunnet in overtime and lost in the final minute to Bedford — all teams that made the playoffs.

“We were in some games,” Dover coach Ken Osbon said. “The differential, point-wise, in the games we played against teams in the playoffs is real low. Our guys competed.”

Dover's numbers were low, which meant the deck was stacked against the Green Wave from the outset. But the Green Wave fought through the adversity and stayed healthy enough to take three playoff teams to the wire.

“It was a tough season,” said Dover senior running back Noah Boucher. “We all wish it had gone better. We had our sights set on the championship, but that didn't happen. So now we're going to work with what we've got and try to beat Portsmouth.”

Osbon said his staff's approach this season was to give the players the full “Dover football” experience, meaning despite the low numbers, the team would work and perform at the same level they every team in the past had.

“For the most part, I think they really did that,” Osbon said. “I wanted to make sure they had the Dover football experience no matter what was going on with our numbers. To send the message that in life, challenges will always come. But the answer isn't to walk away and quit, the answer is to work harder and solve problems.”

Last year, the Dover players werent' giving much thought to the Thanksgiving game as they made their run through the D-II tournament. This year has been starkly different, as the Green Wave missed the playoffs and have had more than two weeks to focus on Portsmouth and Portsmouth only.

“After making the playoffs the last two years, you feel like you should be there,” senior linebacker Eric Wilson said. “But it's been fun to get ready for Portsmouth. We're trying to beat them for the fourth time. We don't want to lose to them now.”

All indications are that this morning's game will mark the last time the two teams will meet on Thanksgiving, at least for a while. Portsmouth athletic director Rus Wilson said that the series will definitely end after today's game, but Osbon hopes it can be resurrected, if not next year, then at some point down the road.

“I certainly would like to see it continue,” Osbon said. “I think we've had great games and we're a natural fit for those guys. We've been playing a long time, almost 100 games. When you look around the country at rivalries that have been around for 100 games, there aren't many.”

Dover leads the current series 4-2 and has won three straight. The Green Wave rallied for its last two wins, overcoming a 12-point deficit in the fourth quarter to post a 25-19 overtime win in 2010, and coming back from 14 points down early in last year's contest to pull out a 41-27 win.

“We want to go out on a good note,” Shaughnessy said, “and walk off into the sunset.”